UPDATED:Big South Korean Brands Caught Up In Overnight Martial Law Decree See Shares Fall, Stay At Home Orders

Major South Korean brands including Samsung, LG Electronics, Kia, Hyundai and chip manufacturer SK Hynix are today caught up in a major drama after martial law was declared overnight in South Korea with the shares of key South Korean brands falling in early trading.

Multinational companies doing business in Korea were thrown into confusion overnight as President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law, as dawn broke across South Korean shares in major South Korean technology Companies that traded on foreign bourses started to fall, LG Electronics fell 2.6% after falling 5.8% earlier this week Samsung fell 1.2%, while SK Hynix shares fell 1%, Hyundai fell 2.6%.

Most foreign technology firms operating in South Korea including the likes of Apple, Intel and Nvidia swiftly responded by issuing emergency notices, instructing employees to work remotely, while their headquarters closely monitored the situation by directing their Korean teams to report on the potential ramifications.

“We stayed up all night monitoring fluctuating exchanges rates,” said a manager from a foreign retail firm who wished to be unnamed. “While there’s no immediate impact compared to financial markets, the depreciation due to currency volatility will affect our products’ valuation.

We worked overnight to draft response strategies, assess the potential impact on our business and prepare announcements for our employees.”

Another official working at a foreign firm in Seoul said, “Colleagues at the headquarters contacted me several times during the early hours, asking if I was safe. However, since the martial law was lifted so quickly, there hasn’t been an official follow-up notice from our head office yet.”

LG Electronics has advised employees at its Seoul headquarters in Yeouido, western Seoul, to work from home, citing anticipated traffic disruptions around the National Assembly, located in the same district.

HD Hyundai also held an emergency meetings in, preperation for potential economic turbulence. Chairman Kwon Oh-gap has called for a vigilant approach to managing currency fluctuations and other financial risks.

Samsung Electronics said that it is closely observing developments, although no additional emergency meetings specifically related to the martial law declaration have been held.

President Yoon’s declaration marked Korea’s first imposition of martial law in 45 years. The move caused the U.S. dollar to surge against the Korean won overnight, reaching a high of 1,446.5 won from 1,400.5 won prior to the declaration.

In an extraordinary, tumultuous turn of events President Yoon Suk Yeol (seen below)appeared in a late-night television broadcast to announce he was instituting martial law to eradicate “shameless pro-North Korean anti-state forces” in the nation.

Hours later South Korea’s parliament dramatically reversed President Yoon Suk Yeol’s declaration of martial law with the issue set to continue into today as increasing tensions between his scandal-rocked administration and opposition members of parliament, with each side claiming the other has been moving toward a power grab.

Yoon’s decision, backed by the defense minister, is all the more baffling because just three months ago his defense minister told a parliamentary hearing that no South Korean citizen would possibly understand and accept the declaration of martial law, even snickering at a lawmaker who suggested the possibility.

Services of South Korean main online portal Naver, which had experienced disruptions following President Yoon Suk Yeol’s unexpected martial law declaration, were this morning normalised, after a massive surge in traffic crashed the system, as South Koreans went looking for news updates.

Naver Cafe, the company’s online community platform, and the portal’s news service, which had undergone disruptions from a sudden surge in traffic after Yoon’s announcement said this morning that the traffic is returning to normal.

Naver conducted emergency maintenance of its services following the traffic surge.

Similar access issues were reported on Daum, the country’s second-largest web portal. Kakao Corp., the operator of the portal, however, said no service errors or problems have been identified.

State television showed live footage early on Wednesday local time of soldiers seeking to block large crowds from entering the parliament building even as lawmakers inside voted to block Yoon’s decree.

President Yoon Suk Yeol a hardline former chief prosecutor, said late last night Australian time, that he would lift the “emergency” martial law that he had announced earlier in the day in order to “eliminate anti-state forces as quickly as possible and normalise the country”.

The president’s decree was rejected unanimously by members of South Korea’s national assembly.

Yoon said troops deployed to enforce martial law had been withdrawn and the state of military rule would be lifted formally by his cabinet “as soon as members arrive”.

At around 3.0 AM Australian Eastern time all 190 lawmakers were present at the 300-member National Assembly to vote against Yoon’s declaration of martial law.

Liberal parties including the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea control the majority of seats in the National Assembly.

The Pre4sidents surprise decision barely won support from the ruling People Power Party.

Its leader Han Dong-hoon said Tuesday night that things “went wrong” as Yoon declared martial law.

Under the Constitution, the South Korean President has the power to declare martial law and mobilize military forces in the event of war, armed conflict or similar national emergency. The head of state, however, shall comply with the National Assembly’s request to lift martial law.

In his earlier address to declare martial law, Yoon described opposition lawmakers as “pro-North Korean, anti-state forces,” chastising their attempt to impeach ministers and prosecutors, seek a special probe into him and his wife Kim Keon Hee and, most recently, cut the national budget.

Yoon has been struggling with South Korea’s parliament, which is controlled by an opposition party that he has accused of sympathizing with North Korea.

But even Han Dong-hoon, leader of Yoon’s conservative People Power Party, called the president’s choice to order martial law “wrong,” vowing to “stop it with the people.”

Martial law was last ordered in the country in the 1980s during student unrest.

News Corp reports that “President Yoon has made a big political mistake,” said Ramon Pacheco Pardo, the KF-VUB Korea chair at the Brussels School of Governance.

Yoon, whose approval ratings have dropped below 20% recently, will now face tough questions about his political future. Yoon is roughly at the midpoint of a five-year term that is to end in 2027. By law, he isn’t allowed to run for re-election.

One of South Korea’s largest newspapers, the center-right JoongAng Daily, said in an editorial that it would be doubtful that Yoon maintains his presidency after declaring martial law. “The discussion regarding the president’s impeachment has become inevitable,” the editorial read.

In frigid temperatures, hundreds of South Koreans gathered well past midnight in front of the National Assembly building, with helicopters flying above their heads and police standing watch. The protesters chanted: “Impeach Yoon Suk Yeol!”